Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng ended his four-day duty visit to Beijing yesterday.
Upon arrival at the local airport last night, Ho told the local media that this trip to Beijing served to brief President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang on Macau's current affairs. He stressed that the central government is paying close attention to the issues that Macau is facing in the area of health, giving instructions to the respective services in the mainland to provide more support to Macau such as in the supply of medicines. He added that during his stay in Beijing the central government made many suggestions on Macau's economic development, adding that it will actively study Macau's requests submitted during his visit.
Ho said that in recent days, although he was in Beijing, he was constantly updated on the situation in Macau so that he was aware of the fact that many civil servants have come down with COVID-19. Ho also said that after consulting Secretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong Weng Chon, he understood that it was still possible to adjust human resources in order to maintain the provision of services to the public.
The chief executive added that the government knows that the population is facing difficulties, and that the government has distributed, according to clearly defined plans, anti-COVID-19 kits to residents, with the aim of providing the population with basic medicines to fight the disease. Ho pointed out that all plans have room for improvement, and guaranteed that the government is committed to supporting residents with their needs.
Ho also said that Macau must stay in line with the national COVID-19 prevention policy, and, after the gradual relaxation of national policies since December 7, the respective situation in Macau and has been the same. He added that while one can already see the light of hope, everyone has to overcome the difficult days, in order to return to a sense of normalcy, and in that sense the local government is committed to supporting the population, namely ensuring the steady supply of medicines at Macau's medical facilities.
Ho said that his government will encourage more doctors from the private sector to support the public health services, in order to ease the pressure on medical consultations and emergency services at public hospital and health centre. He also said that it was now more important than ever to ensure the safety of the seriously ill, the elderly and infants. Therefore, he urged those with mild COVID-19 symptoms not to go to the emergency services. He noted that at the Health Care Complex of the Islands in Cotai, some 1,000 beds are available for COVID-19 patients, adding that the human resources in the health area will gradually respond to the needs. In addition, Ho said, the government still has set aside over 4,500 beds in designated hotels for COVID-19 patients who may need them.
Ho also said that the government and all sectors of society have fought the pandemic together over the past three years, achieving good results, and only when the virus weakened did Macau begin to open up, adding that the health authorities are now focused on medical treatment. He stressed that the government will continue to fight COVID-19 together with the population and thereby overcome all the difficulties together. Consequently, Ho said, citizens do not need to worry. He added that during his duty visit to Beijing he raised the nucleic acid testing (NAT) situation with the central government, believing that new policies on this matter will soon be launched, whose orientation will be to continue opening up, and not to return to the past, wishing that everyone can return to normal life as soon as possible.
– GCS, MPD
Caption: Macau Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng addresses a press briefing at the local airport last night upon return from a 4-day duty visit to Beijing. – Photo: GCS
